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Sunday, January 22, 2017

6 Ways to Learn Through Memes

How often do you see memes on social media? It seems like they are everywhere, especially with our recent election in the United States. Our students use them in dozens of ways. Why not use them in the classroom?

Although memes provide humor, they can also provide students with a great way of understanding a vocabulary term. Memes combine the power of picture, humor, and text to formulate understanding.

2. Class Rules

Do you often feel as if your students aren't paying attention to your beginning of the year speech? Do your students need reminders on class procedures? A meme might be a great way to capture their attention. I love the Teacher Memes website because it contains awesome examples of using memes to communicate class rules, homework procedures, participation, paying attention, etc. You could easily re-use the memes on this site in a variety of ways.

3. Summarize Learning

Looking for a creative way to assess understanding? Why have students summarize what they have learned through a meme? It's a great way to utilize the last few minutes of class, which are often wasted.

4. Q and A

Have students form pairs. Have one person create a meme with a question relating to the day's content. Have the other student create a meme with the answer.

5. Self-Reflection

Self-reflection is an important aspect of learning. Why not use a meme to have students reflect on their understanding of content, their performance in class, or even their goals for the new semester?

6. Spice Up Your PowerPoints

When I was in the classroom, I would often use carefully designed PowerPoints with bulleted information. Over time, I have learned that my students are visual creatures. Memes are excellent visuals to help students grasp concepts. Include memes as slides. Encourage students to use less wording and more images in your PowerPoints to support the concepts being taught.

Conclusion

Maybe you are skeptical about how to use memes in the classroom. It may be helpful to get student input. In my experience, students are extremely creative and helpful. Why use in the classroom?

Do you have creative ways to use memes in the classroom? I'd love to hear your ideas.

2 comments:

I'd like to suggest that the wording of #6 change. "Get Rid of Boring PowerPoints" perpetuates a negative association with PowerPoints. How about, "Spice Up your PowerPoints!" And include memes as slides. Encourage using less wording and more images in your PowerPoints to support the concepts being taught. :) What do you think?